Camillo Paderni

Camillo Paderni, or Camillus Paderni, (c. 1715 to 1781) was a Roman artist, employed by King Charles VII of Naples as an illustrator, excavator, and curator at the Museum Herculanense in the royal Palace of Portici.

Papyri Paderni was possibly the first person who undertook the task of transcribing the Herculaneum papyri, obtained at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. Paderni used the method of slicing scrolls in half, copying readable text, by removing papyri layers. This transcription procedure was used for hundreds of scrolls, and in the process destroyed them.

Correspondence

In a letter from 1752 to Richard Mead, Paderni wrote:

In 1754 Paderni wrote a letter to Thomas Hollis, briefly describing the discoveries at the Villa of the Papyri:

The Getty Villa architecture was inspired by the Villa of the Papyri.

In another letter from 1754, to Hollis, Paderni wrote:

In 1755, Paderni wrote two more letters to Thomas Hollis, briefing him on the excavation and scroll transcription progress. The following year he wrote him again, mentioning two works from Philodemus, on rhetoric and music.

Drawings Sketches by Paderni based on other paintings, as part of George Turnbull's ca 1740 book, A treatise on ancient painting.